| BRIEF HISTORY: |
Institutional research was defined as a separate entity following a strong recommendation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) in it’s 1985 accreditation report. The function was located in the Registrar’s Office until 1991 when it became part of the Planning and Institutional Research Office which reported directly to the President. |
| PURPOSE: |
The office purpose is to provide objective, accurate, systematic, and thorough research information that supports the institution’s mission in areas such as enrollment goals, planning, policy formation, and decision making and to provide accurate reports to the government and other professional and private organizations. |
| PERSONNEL: |
Dwayne Little, Director of Planning and Institutional Research (1991-)
Patti Kirkemo, Research Analyst (1989-) |
PROFESSIONAL
ACTIVITIES: |
Both Little and Kirkemo have been active members of the Association for Institutional Research and the California Association for Institutional Research. They regularly attend both national and regional conventions and have taken numerous in-service courses in statistics, IR methodology, etc. Professional publications are regularly received and used to assure that the office is on the cutting edge of best practice. Little was elected in 1994 and 1995 by the independent college sector to represent it on the CAIR Board of Directors, and he presently serves as a member of the CCCU Research Agenda Committee. Kirkemo has also studied at the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute. |
TECHNICAL
SKILLS: |
The office has a thorough knowledge of the CARS operating system which applies to institutional research. It also uses the following computer software: SPSS statistical package, WordPerfect word processing, Excel spreadsheet, Harvard Graphics, Visio Graphics, PowerPoint Presentation Package, Eudora e-mail, and Netscape access to the internet. |
| OFFICE RESPONSIBILITIES: |
The primary office responsibilities are listed below:
- To develop and maintain a cycle of regular institutional studies, reports, and data bases designed to support recurring decision needs of the institution
- To oversee the institution’s response to national statistical surveys, questionnaires, and other non-routine requests for data
- To conduct comparative research (e.g., on enrollment and financial data) and participate in data exchanges with other institutional research offices from peer institutions
- To develop external reports for the U. S. Department of Education, California Post-Secondary Education Commission (CPEC) and/or the Association for Independent Colleges and Universities (AICCU), Church of the Nazarene, and annual surveys for other groups
- To maintain and update institutional statistics and make them available in hard copy or electronic medium
- To collect, analyze, and present data on topics such as departmental programs, overall college enrollment, headcounts, credit hours, demographic profiles, admission/acceptance studies, SAT and ACT scores, student retention and persistence analyses, graduation rate calculations, etc.
- To collaborate with Student Development and Registrar’s offices to produce attitudinal surveys and attrition studies
- To communicate the results of institutional research in a variety of forms
- To define new data needs and develop new formats for statistical information in collaboration with Information Technology Services personnel
- To respond to internal requests for information from deans, chairpersons, faculty committees, etc.
- To keep aware of new trends in institutional research and consult with personnel in IR offices at other institutions whenever possible
- To supervise the work of a student employee
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